engadget Posts First Impressions of iPhone from "Sources"

Engadget is posting some new details about the iPhone culled from "sources".

The keyboard was simply described as "disappointing". Keyboarding with two thumbs often registers multiple key presses (two or three at a time) resulting in a lot of mistakes. The best way to type is with a single finger (as shown in most of Apple's demos), but two thumbs is supposedly very difficult. After trying it for a number of days our source gave up using their thumbs.

The text auto-correction only works well for simple words, but doesn't work for proper names. We can only assume this bit will get better with time as Apple fills out its predictive text dictionary.

"It won't replace a BlackBerry. It's not good for text input. It's just not a business product."

The touchscreen was said to, in general, require somewhat hard presses to register input, and needs some getting used to.

In addition to its dock, the iPhone comes packaged with a polishing cloth (the thing's supposedly a fingerprint magnet, no surprise) and the usual smallish power adapter.

The Bluetooth headset will debut in the $120 range, and will come with its own dock for charging both the phone and the headset. The headset will feature a miniature magnetic charging interface á la MagSafe.

The Bluetooth headset has a hidden LED and is supposedly a very small and elegant device. Sound quality is said to be "typical". There is no clip; like many headsets you're expected to just let it hang out of your ear, as previously shown.

The browser "worked well" but page load speeds on EDGE were just as slow as expected. It sounds like 3G users will have a tough run with this.

Users must scroll through the address book (or use the alphabet-drag on the side) -- one cannot bring up the keyboard and type in a name, as many of us are used to.

Shocker: YouTube over EDGE didn't work well at all, and will basically necessitate use of WiFi.

Reader comments

engadget Posts First Impressions of iPhone from "Sources"

Why does no one seem to care that the iPhone is only available with the AT&T/Cinfular network??
AT&T/Cingular in the Chicagoland area is the worst network. I've tried em out and had to drop it becuase of such poor reception. Everyone I know that tries AT&T ends up getting out of their contract becuase their reception sucks.
I think Apple is making a HUGE mistake partnering with AT&T only and rumor has it, a 5 year partnership with AT&T...Ahhh, too bad. I would LOVE to buy an iPhone and would buy one the first day they went on sale, regardless of some of the poor reviews thus far (we all know 1st generation items are poor, but Apple was great with replacing your 1st generation iPod with a 2nd generation) and the main fact being that you have to have a contract with the worst cell phone provider in the US - AT&T.
I cant wait to hear the complaints the first week of July, when AT&T's already crappy network is bombarded with new iPhone users - no one will be able to do anything with their new iPhones except use it as their new iPod.
Someone please tell me this partnership idea did not come from Mr. Jobs?? I will be so disappointed.

Unfortunately this is how the bureaucracy of the wireless industry works. Handset vendors often have to make sleezy exclusive agreements in order for their products to gain carrier adoption. A kind of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" arrangement. The logic being that you may switch carriers to get this phone, and sadly nothing short of FCC regulation will stop this policy.
The tragedy is that it works, and that's why carriers extend these tactics.

I don't care about it being limited to Cingular/AT&T because where I live they are hands-down the best network. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, all horrible failures where I use my phone the most. Finally got with Cingular about 9 months ago, and they have been a godsend. I consider myself lucky that the iPhone has come out for them.
Part of business though. It creates a partnership with the intent of making money for both sides. Exclusivity is not always a bad thing, especially from a marketing standpoint. It will be interesting to see how it pans out.
The reality is some people simply will not get an iPhone because they get bad AT&T coverage. I know if it had been on Verizon, for instance, I would not have gotten one, because I know the coverage is unusable where I live.